The room smelled of her.

Her scent was reminiscent of standing beside a cold mountain river in the morning after a hard rain.

I opened my eyes to find my mate's long, black blue-tipped quills resting beside me. She was naked. Breathing softly on her side, I trailed a claw along one of her longest quills, musing on her vast collection of high-ranking markings acquired over the centuries. Male quills dry out when they reached this stage, but a female's will shine and soften.

I arrived late last night, technically morning, and I didn't want to wake her.

"I take it the drop-off went smoothly," Oru spoke from over her shoulder.

I clicked softly in agreement.

Oru rolled to meet my gaze and stroked my exposed hip.

"Mourning Crow's Dread Rite commences as we speak," I tugged Oru closer. "If all goes as I expect, we should receive her signal in a few days. The jump-point is only an hour away."

"I'm surprised," Oru snaked her long quills into mine. "Normally, you remain in orbit to observe."

"All five of our pups were all males," I snickered. "Also, it's different being the Oath-sworn mentor, and not an invested parent sitting on the sidelines."

Oru chittered in amusement.

"That human lunar colony was a good choice for an alternative," I added. "Between the civil war and sandstorms, there's no shortage of adversaries to test her honor."

"Jahaa gains a new formidable female warrior," my mate grinned amiably. "And if a certain pesky exo-suit specifically designed to kill our kind gets destroyed in the process... Then we will have even more to celebrate."

"No doubt sending a razkur will confound all of their accumulated data," I dragged my hand up Oru's muscular side. "All of those assumptions about our anatomy and our tactics rendered totally useless."

"I look forward to witnessing the recordings," Oru ran her hand up my arm and nuzzled her face to mine. "A warrior who lures and taunts her adversaries with song will be most unexpected."

Her skin felt tight and supple, like a ripe plum still clinging to the tree, and I knew she tasted just as sweet on the inside.

No longer captivated by the folly of humans, I growled and rolled on top of my mate to burrow my mouth into her slender neck. She growled and hooked her legs around my waist when the tips of my tongue touched her blue and orange striped skin.

Oru wrapped her arms over my shoulders and thrummed as I made my way lower toward her collarbone and, inevitably, between her breasts, where I lingered long enough to savor her nipples and make them bristle to attention.

I met Oru during a joint clan assault on a human outpost station where they were performing experiments on captured Zhaguai and developing anti-Zhaguai bio-weaponry. Her fury and precision were unparalleled, but it was her sapience that enticed me.

My sisters and I, along with volunteers from half a dozen other clans, came prepared to fight to the bloody end, but Oru maneuvered our squads with such efficiency that the massive human operation was neutralized in a matter of minutes. I was prepared to give up everything, even my faith in Av'dona, for the slim chance of making her mine.

I traveled down past her navel, licking every inch of her thoroughly, then delved between her silky thighs. Every well-defined muscle in her solid torso quivered as I peppered her skin in delicate kisses. I knew the area could both excite and make her ticklish. Some days she resisted the extra attention, but this morning she stretched her legs over my shoulders.

Back then, my sisters thought I was mad for chasing after a Supreme Elder, but the funny thing was, I wasn't the only one yearning for something singular. A few months later, Oru arranged an all-female hunt with Clan Asepa and requested me by name to join her personal expedition party.

I settled in on her lower lips, sliding my forked tongue in and around Oru's orange and blue petals, already wet and fully in bloom. She thrummed louder and combed her fingers through my quills. Then I coiled my tongue over her clit and sucked while ever so slightly increasing pressure.

Oru tightened her thighs and kneaded her claws into my quills.

I knew what she wanted, but instead, I let her wriggle under me, growing with impatience.

My mate could be insatiably greedy in private.

I growled in delight and released my suction, making her mewl and squirm.

"Don't stop," Oru panted.

"Never," I chittered at her with my mouth still sloppy with her juices dripping down my chin.

I cupped her ass and raised her pelvis, then slid a single slender long quill deep inside her. She moaned, arched her back, and spread her legs wider.

My mate tasted like chrysanthemums and apple blossoms. Jahaa had no religions but Oru was my goddess. I knelt there for what felt like hours, lapping up the delectable ambrosia flowing from her chalice.

Her hips undulated rhythmically in my arms as her warm channel squeezed my tendril in response to my ravenous massaging. The faint sheen of sweat glistened across her rippled abs and I had to reach out to touch her.

She tugged my quills and gasped when my hand seized her breast and teased her nipple with my clawed thumb.

"E'pire!" Oru grit her teeth. She held her breath with each staggered inhale and I knew she was close.

I brushed another quill in short, quick circles around her clit and sank my tongue deeper inside her. All the while, delighting in her fists balled up and digging into our bedding.

Oru shuddered in my arms with a mellifluous roar. Then I held her until her breathing steadied.

"It's good to have you home, my love," Oru stroked my head as she continued panting.

I released her hips and withdrew my quill with the utmost care. "It's good to taste you too."

She giggled and slacked her legs to the side to let me crawl up and face her.

I knelt on all fours over my mate, staring down at her, our faces surrounded by a curtain of my quills. I loved the way Oru's orange eyes burned when they were trained on her target, but the best was when they stared into mine, smoldering and satisfied.

When I became mated to Oru, I knew it meant leaving Clan Asepa and my faith in Av'dona. I was never particularly spiritual, but occasionally I missed sparring with my sisters and the nights we spent retelling sacred stories at our mountain campsites. However, I would never trade anything for my time with Oru. There was and would never be another Zhaguai like her. My mate was bold, persistent, beautiful, and a true visionary when it came to the future prosperity of our people. I could exist nowhere else but in her arms.

Oru's hand caressed my chest and lingered on my nipples while the other disappeared to explore lower. Then she stroked my cheek to pull me closer and kissed me, intertwining her quills around mine.

I relaxed and sank down across her, resting between her warm muscular thighs with our breasts and brows pressed together. My torso was longer than Oru's, but if I angled myself correctly, I could kiss both sets of lips simultaneously.

She chittered and let my mouth go while gazing lazily up at me. "As much I as enjoy these mornings, there's something I must ask you."

"Speak your mind, my mate," I raised my head to listen carefully.

"What would you say to having another pup?"

"I...?!" My eyes went wide. There is no visage more beautiful than seeing Oru pregnant. "YES! Of course." I snuggled in and kissed her. "But..."

"You wouldn't have to-"

"No," I interrupted. "I want to be the bearer."

"It would have to be a Joust pairing..." Oru crimped her eyebrow with concern.

"I don't mind," My quills swirled with hers. "I'm not keen on mating with a male, but I understand the demands of your political station. At least it'll be quick."

Oru snickered, and I couldn't help but join her.

"But I have one demand," I shifted back to serious.

"Anything, my mate," Oru raked her fingers through my quills. "Name it."

"I want a daughter."

Oru's eyes ignited and dilated. Then she seized my ass and pulled my thighs up and wide above her pelvis. "I'll make an appointment with Medical today to ensure we have a female."

I leaned down with my rear in the air, thrumming my chest against hers. "I knew there were advantages to being mated with the Supreme Elder."

"Oh, there are many!" Oru sat up, tugging my tummy tight to hers, then slipped her two middle fingers inside me. I yelped at the abrupt invasion, but quickly rocked my hips forward to allow her unfettered access.

Oru kissed me hard, one arm hooked firmly around the small of my back while I knelt straddling her lap and made her thighs and fingers slick with my overflowing wetness.

She squeezed in another finger, each digit precision trained on where to flick and rub. I writhed on her, descending into dizziness with each passing second. My mate loved proving I was hers and when the mood hit her, which was often, she could make me scream it.

Oru's fanged mouth enveloped my left breast, licking my nipple but not sucking.

Fuck, my mate was an expert at setting my skin on fire.

I dug my claws up her back as she kept me locked in place and made me endure every mind-bending second of pleasure. She switched breasts while coaxing me into ecstasy, driving me to bounce and thrust on her hand, eagerly embracing all of her commands as she keyed in the password to unlock the one miraculous location that made my vision sparkle.

I howled and arched my head back, powerless to stop my body from being steadily stretched taut like a nocked bowstring. Tightening, building, escalating in pressure... Culminating in a release that made me shiver and roar until my lungs were drained empty.

"The sight of you makes me want to kill," Oru slithered her warm tongue up my neck.

"Then do it."

"A Dread was not scheduled," Oru rolled her head in dismay.

"You are Jahaa's Elder," I cupped her face. "We are at our greatest when you bring us honor! You contact Medical and I will arrange the remainder."

"Or," Oru clicked in my ear, "We could stay in bed longer."

"No," I pushed off her lap and shoved Oru off the bed with my foot. "The decision is made. Go wash and get dressed."

"As you wish," Oru strolled off the hygiene chamber wearing a wide, devious smile. "My mate."

.

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VOCABULARY:

The Dread - An annual solo combat rite - first Dread involves a zhaguai cutting off its tail after presenting their kill. Marks adulthood and clan marking is permanently inlaid in metal onto their face.

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Author's Note:

I just love these characters and I wanted to give them the attention they deserve. So here you go.

ANYwho...

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